Nail-sorting machine.



PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906. W. H.'J0HNS0N,- NAIL SORTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DOT. 22.1904.

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No. 833,688. 'PATENTED OCT. 16', 1906. W. H. JOHNSON. NAIL SORTINGMACHINE.

' APPLIGATION FILED 00T.22. 1904.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.v

WILLIAM H. JOHNSON, OF WHITMAN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TODAVID B. GURNEY, OF WHITMAN, MASSACHUSETTS.

NAlL-SORTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that-I, WILLIAM H. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Whitman, in the county of Plymouth and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new'and useful Improvements inNail- Sorting Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for sorting nails.

The object of the invention is to produce a machine for use in themanufacture of nails, tacks, screws, and the like which will assort thefinished articles or the blanks from which they are made, separatingfrom the perfect articles all which are imperfect by reason of defectsin the diameter or thickness of the head or in the diameter or form ofthe shank.

To the above end the invention consists in the machine hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, Figure 1 is a plan viewof a machine embodying the invention with certain of the parts,including the hopper, removed to show the underlying parts. Fig. 2 is avertical section on line at :c, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a .vertical section ofa part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2, but with the parts in differentpositions. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of the raceways, and Fig. 5 is asectional detail of the bars for separating nails with heads ofexcessive thickness.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is adapted particularly tooperate on nails or nail-blanks, and it is made in multiplex form. Themachine comprises generally a hopper containing the supply of nails,inclined raceways leading therefrom, gaging and separating devices intowhich the nails are delivered from the raceways, and suitable mechanism,including a shaft and cams for actuating the parts.

The frame of the machine comprises end.

portions 1 1, a front girder 2, and tie-rods 3 and 1, connecting theends.

The hopper 5 extends across the machine and is pivoted at 6 upon the endof the frame. A bell-crank lever 7, pivoted upon the tie-rod 3, carriesa cam-rollengaging a cam 8 upon the main shaft 9. The upper end of thelever bears against a projection from the bottom of the hopper andserves'to agitate the hopper to facilitate the passage nails therefrom.The nails are delivered from the front of the hopper, passing beneath agate 10 and fallin upon deflectors 1 1, which have inclined su aceswhich direct the nail into the raceways 12,formed by bars 13, supportedupon cross-bars 14, secured at their ends to the ends of the frame. Thenails hang by their heads in the slots formed by the contiguous sides ofthe bars 13 and descend by gravity toward the bottoms of the raceways.Such nails as fail to fall into the raceways will pass beyond the lowerends of the deflectors and will then fall between the raceways upon atray 15, secured below the raceways. -Any nails of which the heads areof insufficient diameter will fall entirely through the raceways, andthus be separated from the other nails.

In order to feed the nails one by one to each of the gaging andseparating mechanisms, two oscillating fingers are used at the bottom ofeach raceway. The fingers 16 and 17 are secured to shafts 18 and 19,respectively, journaled at their ends in the frame. To these shafts arefixed cam levers 20 and 21, carrying cam-rolls engaging cams 22 and 23on the main shaft. ranged to give alternate movements to the fingers,each finger 16 first oscillating to the left and permitting the lowestnail in the raceway to fall into the notched end of the finger l7 andthen moving-back to the position shown in Fig. 2, so as to retain therest of the nails, while the finger 17 oscillates to the left andpermits the nail held thereby to fall into the gaging devices.

The gaging and separating devices comprise means for separating nailshaving heads of excessive diameter, shanks which are crooked or ofexcessive diameter, or heads which are of excessive thickness.

The means for gaging the diameter of the head are constructed asfollows: Two gagebars 24 and 25, extending longitudinally of themachine, are mounted at their ends in slide-guides 26 in the frame topermit a horizontal movement of the bars. The bars have openings formedin their contiguous faces and gage-plates 27 secured therein. Thepassage 28,formed between each pair of gageplates, is of a diameter justequal to that of a The cams are artoo perfect nail-head. The upperportions of the passages are conical, so as to guide the nails surely tothe gage-plates, and the bar 25 has slots 29 to permit the entrance ofthe shanks of the nails in passing from the raceway. Nails having headsof proper diameter will pass through the passages, but nails havingheads of excessive diameter will be caught therein, as shown in Fig. 2.In order to separate such a nail from the perfect nails, means areprovided for moving the gage-bars to the left and then releasing thenail by separating the bars, thereby permitting the nail to drop upon aplate 30, by which it is directed to a suitable receptacle. In the bar24 are fixed stems 31, passing loosely through holes in the bar 25 andconnected by links 32 to levers 33, pivoted on the tie-rod 4. The lowerends of the levers are connected by adjustable links34 to cam-levers 35,pivoted upon the tie-rod 3 and carrying cam-rolls engaging cams 36 onthe shaft. Fixed in the bar 25 are stems 37, passing loosely throughholes in the bar 24. Springs 38, surrounding the stems 37, bear againstthe bar 24 and against nuts on the stems and hold the bars 24 and 25normally in contact. When the bars are moved by means of the connectionsabove described to the left, the ends of the stems 37 engage during thelatter portion of such movement adjustable stops 39, screwed in thegirder 2. Thus the movement of the bar 25 is arrested, while the bar 24continues to move enough farther to release the nails from the passages.

The means for gaging the shanks of the nails comprise gage-bars 40 and41, supported at their ends in vertical slide-guides 42 in the frame ofthe machine. Openings are formed in the contiguous faces of the bars 40and 41 and through the lower part of the latter, and gage-plates 43 areinserted in these openings, and each pair of gage-plates form betweenthem a passage just sufficient to admit a straight shank of the properdiameter. A perfect nail will enter the passage until the head of thenail is seated in a recess at the upper end thereof, entirely below theupper surface of the gage plates. If, however, the nail has a shankcrooked or of excessive diameter, it will not fully enter the passage,but will remain projecting upward therefrom, as at 44. In order toremove such a nail from the passage and separate it from the perfectnails, means are provided for seizing the nail, while the bars '40 and41 are moved downward to withdraw the nail from the passage, and thenail is then transferred to the left and allowed to fall upon the plate30. To the bottom of the bar 24 is fixed a clutch-j aw 45, extendingalong the length of the bar. A cooperating clutch-j aw 46 is supportedat its ends by gibs 25*, fixed to the bar 25, so as to be held againstthe bottom of the bar, but free to move horizontally with respectthereto.

Pins 48, fixed to the jaw 46,may'be engaged when the parts are in theposition shown in Fig. 2 by screws 49, carried by cam-levers 50, pivotedupon the tie-rod 4. The cam-levers 5O carry cam-rolls engaging cams 51on the shaft. After the nail has been permitted to drop into the passagethe above-described mechanism operates to move the clutch-j aw 46 to theleft, so as to grip the projecting portion of the nail between theclutch-jaws. The bars 40 and 41 are then moved downward by means ofbell-crank levers 52, connected at 53 to the bar 41 and pivoted upon thetie-rod 4, the bell-crank levers being operated by adjustableconnections 54 with cam-levers 55, pivoted upon the tie-rod 3 andactuated by a cam 56 upon the main shaft. This downward movement of thebars releases such portion of the shank of the nail as may have enteredthe passage, and in the subsequent horizontal movement of the bars 24and 25, which has already been described, the nail is transferred by theclutch-jaws to a position-over the plate 30, the jaw 46 during thismovement being held frictionally in operative enga ement with the nail.At this point pins 57, fixed in the clutch-j aw 46 and passing looselythrough openings in the clutch-j aw 45, engage adjustable stops 58 inthe girder 2 and arrest the movement of the clutch-jaw 46, so as torelease the nail. After the above-described operation has taken placeand the bars 40 and 41 are in their lowered position nails with perfectshanks, which have been retained in the passage, are released by aslight horizontal movement of the bar 40, by which the passage iswidened sufficiently to admit the heads of such nails. Stems 59, fixedin the bar 40, pass loosely through sleeves in the bar 41 and carry attheir outer ends arms 60, with pins 61 projecting in the paths ofmovement of the levers 33. Springs 62 keep the bar 40 moved normally tothe right, as shown in Fig. 2; but when the levers 33 move to the leftto impart horizontal movement to the bars 24 and 25 the pins 61 areengaged thereby, and the bar 40 is moved to the left and the nailsreleased. The nails next fall through passages in a bar 63, which issupported at its ends in horizontal slideguides 64 on the frame of themachine. Below each passage in the bar 63 is a slot formed by twoadjacent bars 65 and 66, carried, respectively, by longitudinal bars 67and 68. The nails pass entirely through the passages and hang in theslots by their heads. Hardened-steel bushings 69 are inserted in eachpassage, and between the bottom of each bushing and the tops of the barsforming the slot is a space just sufficient to admit a nailhead ofnormal thickness. After the nail has fallen into the slot a horizontalmovement to the left is imparted to the bar 63. The means for doing thiscomprise an adjustable ITO link 70, pivoted to the bar 63and to acamlever 71, which is pivoted. upon the tie-rod 3 and has a cam-rollengaging a cam 72 on the main shaft. When the bar 63 is moved to theleft, any nails having heads of excessive thickness will be moved withit, as the heads will project somewhat into the bushings, while nailswith perfect heads will remain in the position shown at 73, Fig. 2. Thebar 68 is secured to the frame by screws 74 (see Fig. 5) passingthroughelongated openings in the bar. The means for impartinglongitudinal movement to the bar, so as to carry the bars 66, securedthereto, away from their companion bars 65, and thus to release thenails han ing in the slots, comprise alever 75, pivotal y connected tothe bar 68. The lever 75 is pivoted at 76 on a hanger secured to thetie-rod 4 and carries a cam-roll engaging a cam 77 on the shaft. Whenthe bar 68 is moved as described, the perfect nails hanging in the slotswill fall upon a plate 78 and be directed thereby into a suitablereceptacle, while the nails with heads of excessive thickness will fallupon a plate 79 and be directed mto another receptacle.

Although the illustrated embodiment of the invention is arranged to gagethe nails in several dimensions, it will be understood that theinvention in some aspects may be embodied in machines capable ofseparating nails imperfect in only one or a part of-the characteristicswith regard to which the present machine operates. Thus where thethickness of the nail-head is immaterial the means for gaging thethickness may be omitted. Moreover, the invention is not limited to theprecise details of construction and operation set forth in connectionwith the description of the .preferredembodiment, but may be embodied inother forms broadly defined by the claims.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed is bination, a

1. A nailsorting machine, having, in combination, a gage with a passageof a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of a per fectnail-head, the gage operating to arrest of excessive diameter, andhaving provision for releasing nails so arrested, and means for feedingnails singly to the gage, substantially as described.

2. A nail-sorting machine, having, in comportions forming between them apassage of-a diameter substantially equal to that of a perfectnail-head, means for moving the gage laterally and separating itsportions to separate and release a nail arrested in the gage, and meansfor feeding nails singly to the gage, substantially as described.

3. A nail-sorting machine, having, in combination, a gage comprising twoseparable portions forming between them a passage for nails of which theupper part is tapering and lateral movement for separating the gage andthe nail-holding means to withdraw such imperfect nail from the gage,and means for feeding nails singly to the gage, substantially asdescribed.

5. nail-sorting machine, having, in combination, a shank-gage comprisingseparable portions, means for removing imperfect nails from the ga e,and means for separating the portions of t e gage to release nails withperfect shanks, substantially as described.

6. A nail-sorting machine, having, in combination, a shank-gage, meansfor seizing and holding a nail which projects from the gage owing to theshank not fully entering the gage, means for lowering the gage towithdraw the nail therefrom, means for moving the nailholding meanslaterally, means for opening the nail-holding means to release the nail,and means for feeding nails singly to the gage, substantially asdescribed.

7. A nail-sortin machine, having, in com bination, means or separatingnails with heads ofexcessive thickness comprisingmeans for supportingthe nails, a member located in position to engage the heads of suchimperfect nails and to move the nails while remaining inoperative withrespect to other nails, and means for feeding nails singly to saidseparating means, substantially as described.

8. A nail-sorting machine, having, in combination, means for separatingnails with heads of excessive thickness comprising means engaging theunder sides of the heads or loosely holding the nails so as to permitthereof, separating means moving at such distance from the holding meansas to engage such heads as are of excessive thicknessand move the nailslaterally to separate them from the perfect nails, and

means for feeding nails singly to the separatgage comprising tWoseparable ing means, substantially as described.

9. A nail-sorting machine, having, in combination, means for separatingnails with heads of excessive thickness, comprising bars forming achannel in which the nails hang by their heads, means for engaging headsof excessive thickness and moving the nails laterally, and means forseparating the bars to release the nails, substantially as described.

10. A nail-sorting machine, having, in combination, an inclined racewayin which the nails are suspended by their heads a finger having anotched end in which the lowermost In testimony whereof I afiix mysignature nail may hang by its head, means for moving in presence of twowitnesses. the finger laterally at the proper time to release and feedthe nail, and means for holding 1 WILLIAM JOHNSON 5 the remaining nailsin the raceway (luring Witnesses:

such feeding movement, substantially as de- CHAS. T. SNOW,

scribed. Josnrn L. Snow.

